A Meditation Seminar With Flow To Fit Yoga

Have you ever wanted to create a meditation practice, but didn’t know how? Perhaps you thought “meditation just doesn’t work for me.” Perhaps you have never considered meditation, but you are looking for a way to decrease your anxiety, stress, or even depression.

There are many known and well studied benefits to a daily meditation practice; lower blood pressure, decreased stress, higher levels of energy and productivity, better creativity, stronger ability to focus, decreased anxiety and depression, better relationships with others, higher levels of happiness, and a lower risk for stress related illnesses and diseases, just to name a few.

Amie of Flow To Fit Yoga in Southbury held a meditation seminar on Sunday that went over various types of meditations and techniques. She wanted to teach her local community more about these benefits and inspire meditation practices in her community. You can learn more about her yoga studio and classes by clicking here. Amie’s studio is already amazing, but she will actually be moving to a larger location right in Southbury within the next couple months. The meditation class taught techniques to manage stress, increase energy, and how to find and create a method and practice that works well for you as an individual.

As a big fan of positive psychology, I know a lot about how the mind works. But knowing how the mind works and how to help it and actually doing are two completely different things.

Most of us recognize that our own thoughts are responsible for the way that we feel, although we often feel the need to blame it on outside sources such as our environment, our jobs, and other people. Amie told us that 90% of our stress is actually caused by the thoughts that we have, and only 10% is really caused by our environments. That means, the way we perceive a situation and think about it has more power to help or harm us than the actual event itself. What is we can change the way that we feel by hanging our minds and our brains?

“Water flows to the deepest groove,” Amie told the class. The path we go down the most becomes deeper. We can simply change that by first being aware of it. Once we know what negative path we are taking, we can shift our thoughts to take a healthier path. Shawna Shapiro, author of Good Morning, I Love You, a book about meditation, mindfulness, and self-compassion, often states, “What we focus on comes stronger.” That means that we possess the power to change our own brains and the way that we feel. It takes time and it takes work, but it can be done. Meditation is the key to change these negative thought patterns and bring peace and prosperity to our lives.

Amie taught us that just ten minutes a day, every day, is powerful enough to start changing your brain in as little as two weeks. Ideally, you want to meditate twice a day for up to twenty minutes, but starting once a day for any duration that you can is a great place to start.

So how exactly does one meditate?

To meditate, you need to have a space. It doesn’t have to be big, is simply has to be quiet. It can be a corner of your room or even seated at your desk. Preferably, you want something soft to sit on and you should be in a seated position. When it is cold, I like to have a blanket wrapped around my shoulders so I don’t get distracted by the cold.

Once seated, Amie recommends setting a timer for yourself so that you don’t get distracted or check your phone during your meditation. It can be for five minutes, ten, or however long you want to practice. To meditate, you simply try to clear your mind. Your brain will wander. This is not about avoiding all thoughts, as this is impossible. It is simply recognizing that your mind is wandering, to bring yourself back and to not have a discussion with your thoughts. The goal is to have pauses of peacefulness between your thoughts. The longer the pause, the stronger your practice. According to Shauna Shapiro, self compassion is the key. When your mind inevitably wanders, bring yourself back with kindness, rather than judgement. Do not put yourself down if your thoughts get away from you. This is about recognizing our thoughts for what they are and bringing it back to be present in the current moment.

These are the types of meditations that Amie walked us through in the class. You can read about them here and try each one for yourself. Some work better for others,  so trying each of them may help you create a better practice, one that you can stick to.

One. Breath Meditation. 

This type of meditation is what most people often think about when they think of meditating. For this meditation, you close your eyes and simply focus on your breathes. In. Out. In. Out. Some people really like this simple way to focus, while others may find it unbearable.

Two. Focus Meditation. 

We often do this type of meditation without even thinking about it. When we go into a state of flow while doing an activity, we are achieving this state of meditation. For example, when you focus on a task such as yoga, riding your bicycle, or coloring in a coloring book, and your mind is completely on the task, rather than wandering with thoughts, you are in a focus meditation.

To try this meditation for yourself, grab a favorite beverage such as tea or coffee and simply focus on just that cup as you drink it. Focus on the taste, the temperature as you hold in in your hands, and the way that it smells. Avoid distractions; do not check your phone or read while you drink. Be in the moment. That is a focus meditation. For me, this has been my favorite kind of meditation, especially in summertime as I like to sit at the beach or by a lake and focus on that moment.

Three. Visualization Meditation. 

This one is just as it sounds; a visualization. Many meditation apps bring you through these types of guided meditations, but you can practice this one on your own. To do this meditation, you close your eyes and picture a place or a scene that makes you happy. This is not a memory or a person, but a place. It can be the beach, the forest, or a place you love. For the duration of the meditation, you only think about this place; what do you see? What do you smell? What do you hear? What do you feel?

Four. “So Hum” Breathe meditation.

Like the first meditation, you are going to ficus on your breath. But when you breathe in you’ll think “so” and when you breathe out you think “hum.” So hum means “I am” in Sanskrit. You don’t have to use these words. You can use any words that you like, perhaps even a mantra you love. You might want to try words like “be present,” or “self compassion.” I used “Live Lovely.”

Five. Moving Meditation.

Like the focus meditation, you are going to focus your attention on a physical activity or a movement, doing your best to focus on the activity itself and not your thoughts. A moving meditation can be done during a yoga practice, a walk in the woods, or riding a bicycle.

Once you find a meditation or two that works for you, commit to a daily practice and make it into a part of your everyday routine. For me, I am now meditating once in the morning when I first get out of bed and once in the evening before going to bed for ten minutes at a time. It has only been a few days, but I’m already feeling calmer and more in the moment.

How do you meditate? You can follow long the journey on Instagram @LiveLovelyTravel.